Holding On Read Free Page B

and he was leaving?! She’d played the scene over in her head repeatedly the entire afternoon. Well, to be honest, for nearly a week. In her mind he was shocked, upset, and even in a rare scene, happy. But not once did she picture him leaving !
    “You really have to go? Now ?” she demanded. She followed him out of the living room, down the short hallway into the foyer. A small voice in her head was screaming at her to latch onto him. To not let him leave because he was not supposed to be leaving!
    “I’ve just… there’s something I need to do,” he repeated.
    “Can’t it wait?” she pleaded.
    He had a crease between his eyebrows and he was no longer bothering to look at her. His hand hit the doorknob and he swung the door open. A light spring breeze floated in.
    “No. It really can’t,” he said decisively.
    “Can we at least talk about this?” she asked. Her voice wobbled and cracked. He didn’t seem to notice.
    “We’ll talk,” he assured her .
    His eyes looked glazed over. He was clearly dazed so she was trying to forgive him for his unexpected , unacceptable behavior. Carly had warned her he might need some time. Quinn hadn’t thought it would be within the first five minutes of finding out.
    “Are you going to be here later?” he asked. His eyes finally darted back to her face. Yet she had an uncanny hunch that he still wasn’t looking at her. He certainly wasn’t focused on her. He was far too distracted.
    Where else would she be? She’d just announced to him she was pregnant. It wasn’t as though she’d planned on heading to the bar with her friends afterwards. Or to a college party with her underage sister.
    “Yeah,” she said. Her voice sounded strange in her ears. It sounded too tight and high pitched. “I’ll be here.”
    She looked away, trying to tamp down the rush of tears that were prickling behind her eyes. She’d hoped she’d be leaving with him, which apparently was not going to be the case. So, yes, she’d be here. She’d thought he’d stick around so they could tell her parents. Or at the very least discuss how they were going to tell each of their parents.
    She took a deep breath.
    If Jake was going to abandon her, at least here at their parents’ house, she had Carly.
    He lurched forward, placing his hands on her shoulders. He dropped a kiss on her forehead. The gesture felt like an afterthought. He darted out of the door, pulling it closed behind him.
    She stood there blinking back tears and wondering what had just happened. He hadn’t even said goodbye.
    She’d spent the afternoon with Carly who had managed to lull her into a false sense of security. Carly had convinced her that everything would be fine.
    Jake had walked out on her.
    It was not fine. Nothing about the situation was fine.
    What the heck did Carly know?
    She leaned up against the door and closed her eyes. She heard his truck door slam, the engine start, and the sound of him pulling out and driving away.
    What was she supposed to do? What was the right thing to do? She didn’t know. Was she supposed to follow him? Beg him to stay? Plead with him to talk to her? The hollow, aching inside of her told her that she should’ve.
    She felt as if a piece of her very soul had just walked out of the door. Her entire being ached, wanting to be with him when she needed him the most. Should she have chased after him? A part of her wanted to. A huge part of her. But she wasn’t going to stoop to that. Not if she could help it. Instead, she slumped against the door just as she had slumped against the bathroom wall. A sob bolted past her lips. For the second time that day the tears began to fall.
     
    *~*~*
     
    “That bastard!” Carly hissed. “Luke is totally going to kick his ass!”
    “What do es Luke have to do with this?” Quinn demanded.
    Carly had been worried that she hadn’t kept their parent s out long enough. Quinn had been relieved when they’d all filed through the door less than twenty